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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25295965">I Give My Best (To Springville Hill)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyllpickless/pseuds/dyllpickless'>dyllpickless</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dave Is Alive, Domestic Bliss, First Dates, Fix-It, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Other, Time Travel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:16:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,791</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25295965</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyllpickless/pseuds/dyllpickless</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Klaus decides to take Dave out on their first date since Dave arrived in the present, but it doesn't go exactly as planned.<br/>-OR-<br/>Klaus balled his hands up in his pockets and frowned at the pavement. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked quietly, too scared of what the answer may be to speak up.<br/>“What? No, of course not.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dave/Klaus Hargreeves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>318</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I Give My Best (To Springville Hill)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/princejoopie/gifts">princejoopie</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just a head's up, this fic has mentions of insects and food! Also, the title is from "June Hymn" by The Decemberists!<br/>This is a birthday fic for <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/princejoopie/pseuds/princejoopie">princejoopie,</a> or Jordan! I hope you had a wonderful birthday &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Dave!” Klaus practically jumped into the room and ended up hanging off the door jamb as he kept talking. “I have a surprise for you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dave looked up from his book, his confused look only growing as he got a good look at his partner. “Angel, what are you wearing?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, this old thing?” Klaus looked down at his combination of a skirt, a crop top, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>lots</span>
  </em>
  <span> of necklaces, then back up at Dave with a wide smile. “I’m taking you out to dinner, Davey. I needed to dress up for our date.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dave set his book down in his lap with a slight frown. “What do you mean?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I </span>
  <em>
    <span>mean—”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Klaus stretched the word out as he slinked into the room to sit on Dave’s lap. “—that we haven’t gone on a date since you got here, and I really want to treat my beau to something special.” He ended his sentence with a kiss on Dave’s nose and a smile. “So, I made a reservation for us at a really nice restaurant.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Really, Dave had no choice but to smile back as he placed his hands on Klaus’ hips. “Oh, sweetheart, you didn’t have to do that. I love eating in with you, we don’t have to go out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Yeah,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Klaus sighed, “but this is special. I want to go </span>
  <em>
    <span>out</span>
  </em>
  <span> with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dave held his gaze for a moment before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to Klaus’ lips. “Alright. When are we leaving?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus’ face broke out into a grin. “As soon as you get dressed.”</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>It was a beautiful evening—the air warm but not too humid, a slight breeze chasing away any cloud in sight. Klaus didn’t even need to grab a jacket as they left their apartment. It was the perfect night to walk to a restaurant with your date.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The streets were full, like always, but Klaus had no problem sticking close to Dave’s side. At one point, Klaus went to grab Dave’s hand, but Dave must not have noticed because he didn’t even react. Instead of trying again, Klaus just swung his arms a little as he walked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, what kind of restaurant is this?” Dave asked, watching as Klaus spun around a lamppost, humming some song he’d never heard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Umm… French, I think. I’ve heard they eat snails. I wanted to see if they eat them still moving.” Klaus cackled at the face Dave pulled. “I’m not making you eat snails, Davey, don’t worry. They have other shit too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think the most adventurous I’ve been was when we tried… um, those fried insects. What were they called?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Côn trùng chiên,” Klaus supplied, a knowing smile playing on his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dave nodded and shuddered. “Yeah. That. Sometimes I still think I can feel their legs in my throat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” Klaus laughed, “nobody made you go in for seconds. You have some adventure in you, past those khaki pants of yours.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That made Dave laugh too. “Don’t pretend you hate my khakis.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus hummed and turned to him. “You’re right. I </span>
  <em>
    <span>love</span>
  </em>
  <span> them. I think you look handsome as fuck in them, and they just make me want to kiss you even more.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dave’s smile died on his face as he cleared his throat, directing his eyes straight ahead. “Yeah. Um, do you know how much further the restaurant is?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something twisted in Klaus’s stomach, and he had to fight to keep his smile bright (though it was a little shaky) as he told Dave they only had a block left. They walked that block in silence. Klaus’ heartbeat was thrumming in his ears the entire time. </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>“I have no idea what any of these words mean,” Dave said, setting his menu back down on the table with a slight smile. Klaus lowered his menu to watch his boyfriend’s perplexed face with a giggle. “It’s all gibberish!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would you like some help?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, do you know French?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus shrugged. “A little bit. Probably picked it up from some ghosts. You’d be surprised how many little languages I know just from listening to those bad boys all my life.” Dave’s sympathetic look didn’t feel great, but at least he wasn’t brushing Klaus off like earlier, so he called it a win. “Do you want me to tell you what everything is?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dave considered it for a moment, before shaking his head and sending him a bright smile. “I trust you. You choose for me—something I’ll like.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So not snails then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“No,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Dave stressed, “not snails.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus sent a wink his way. “Got it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just then, the waitress walked over and asked for their orders. Klaus considered the menu for a moment before speaking. “I’ll take the Magret de canard à l’orange, and my beau here will have the Estouffade de boeuf.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The waitress refilled their glasses of water, smiled, then left to take their orders to the chef. As soon as she was out of earshot, Dave’s smile dropped. “What did you have to do that for?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Klaus’ voice was weak, quiet, meek—not words that would usually be used for him, and yet they were perfect when facing that look on Dave’s face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t—” Dave lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned across the table so he could drop it even lower. “You didn’t have to go and tell her that we’re dating. She didn’t need to know. Nobody </span>
  <em>
    <span>needs</span>
  </em>
  <span> to know except us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A sour taste was beginning to bloom on Klaus’ tongue. “What do you mean? You… You want to hide us?” Countless possible explanations began running through his mind like the scroll at the bottom of a news story, too fast to focus on just one. Maybe Dave was ashamed of Klaus, maybe he was trying to figure out a way to dump him, maybe he—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, of course not, I…” He trailed off with a slight frown.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You?” Klaus prompted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dave shook his head. “It’s nothing. I just don’t see why we have to tell it to the whole world.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ten thousand arguments and protests appeared and then immediately died on Klaus’ tongue. If Dave was mad at him, the last thing he wanted to do was further that by arguing with him. So, he just muttered out an apology and took a sip from his glass of ice water and desperately wished it was wine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Klaus wasn’t looking, a sour look also clouded over Dave’s face. He’d hurt Klaus for his own selfish reasons—on their first date, no less. He felt horrible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They sat there in an uncomfortable sort of silence until the waitress returned with the food. As soon as she approached, it was almost like they were back to normal: smiling, laughing, </span>
  <em>
    <span>talking.</span>
  </em>
  <span> To the outside observer, it must have seemed like everything was alright. They wouldn’t have been able to notice how “off” the two were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rest of the meal continued that way. Plastic smiles, baseless laughs, meaningless conversation. They both refused to look at the elephant in the room.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Afterward, Klaus covered the check, mentioning how he was the child of a billionaire as he shoved a debit card into the pocket and signed the receipt with a flourish. As soon as everything had been paid for, they stepped out into the humid night and began walking back home, once again silent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dave was the first to speak: “I’m sorry,” he pushed out quickly. “I was out of line. I’m not ashamed of you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus balled his hands up in his pockets and frowned at the pavement. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked quietly, too scared of what the answer may be to speak up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? No, of course not.” Dave stopped, prompting Klaus to stop too. He gently turned Klaus so they were facing each other. “You did nothing wrong. This is all my fault. It’s completely on me. Don’t you worry about it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I am going to worry about this. I have to.” Dave began to protest, but Klaus cut him off. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Dave,</span>
  </em>
  <span> you freaked out when I mentioned that we were together—” He paid no attention to Dave’s hand signal for him to lower his voice. “—even though we’ve been together for months now! That’s something to worry about! Did something change? You’ve never been like this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dave shook his head. “It’s stupid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, it isn’t,” Klaus huffed. “This is big enough for you to freeze up about us dating while we’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>on a date.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> His features softened and he took a step closer. For a moment, he thought Dave was going to back away. “Davey, you know you can tell me anything, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dave sighed and looked up and down the empty sidewalk. “I… alright. Okay, yeah. Just promise you won’t be mad?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, of course, I promise.” Klaus kept his voice calm, but he couldn’t help but worry about the possible implications of Dave’s question. He took another step closer and held Dave’s hands in his. The streets were thankfully clear enough that Dave didn’t pull away. “Is everything alright?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I, um—” Dave cast his eyes down towards his shoes and lowered his voice. “I’m just still a little scared, I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Scared?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. You know, of being out.” At the look of confusion that took over Klaus’ face, Dave quickly rushed to clarify. “I mean, I know you said everybody is alright with that sort of thing, and nothing’s going to happen to us, but I can’t shake—I don’t know. It feels like we’re doing something wrong. Something gross, almost. And I don’t want to do that to you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A thick sort of silence fell over the couple as Klaus squeezed Dave’s hands. This was his fault. He should have known. Of </span>
  <em>
    <span>course</span>
  </em>
  <span> Dave was dealing with some sort of internalized homophobia, given all the shit he grew up through. The only thing that surprised him was that Dave hadn’t said something sooner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Klaus whispered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m really sorr—” Dave started, but Klaus quickly interrupted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no, you don’t have to apologize at all. I should have known. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Shit,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Dave, I’m so stupid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That set alarm bells off in Dave’s mind. “Hey, no you aren’t. This is my thing that I have to deal with. You’re not stupid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus tilted his head to the side and looked up at Dave for a moment, the expression on his face more sad and loving than anything else. If he was in a cartoon, a lightbulb would have suddenly appeared over him as he gasped. “Oh my god, Dave, I have an idea.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before Dave could ask Klaus what was happening, Klaus let go of Dave’s hands and started marching up the sidewalk. “Come on, I have to show you something.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In Vietnam, Dave learned to just go with the flow when it came to Klaus. His mind was always in a different realm of existence and Dave was just along for the ride—and very happy about that fact. Life with Klaus was an adventure, and Dave loved every second of it. So, he just followed Klaus, the only question on his mind being how Klaus could walk so well and so quickly in heels when just the day before he had seen Klaus almost trip into a mirror after trying to jump over a pile of clothes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus, in his own words, was an enigma, and Dave was so in love.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had a hard time suppressing his heart eyes as he trailed after Klaus, faintly wondering where they were going. Thankfully, the trip wasn’t too long. Klaus came to a sudden standstill at the streetcorner, staring up high. Dave frowned and followed his gaze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Holy shit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A hand came up to lightly cover his mouth as his jaw fell open at the sight: it was a billboard. Specifically, it was a billboard for some ring company with an image of a gay couple kissing and holding hands. </span>
  <em>
    <span>A gay couple.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus had started carefully studying Dave’s face once Dave noticed the billboard, so he saw the tears starting to gather in his eyes. He didn’t say anything, though. This was a moment for Dave to have with himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Part of Klaus wanted to reach out and silently grab Dave’s hand to give him some comfort, but he figured Dave would appreciate some space, so Klaus just stood there, hands in his pockets, not saying a word about his boyfriend crying. After a few minutes, Klaus whispered, “Come on,” and started walking again. This time, Dave was quicker to follow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The couple was silent as they made their way through the streets. It was a beautiful night for a walk, but neither was really thinking about that. Klaus seemed to be focused on his next destination, but Dave’s mind was still stuck on what he had just seen. The image of those two men, the way the colors of their skin contrasted so perfectly against each other, the joy on their faces, it all was burned permanently into his retinas. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here,” Klaus murmured.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time, they were in front of a store. Dave didn’t see it until his gaze landed on a sticker on the glass door. It was a yellow logo with the words “Safe Place.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tons of places around the city have these stickers,” Klaus started to explain, keeping his voice soft so he wouldn’t shatter the reverence surrounding Dave. “It means they help kids and people in danger. They provide counseling and shelter people overnight if they need it. They help a lot of queer people, especially kids.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dave shot a look at Klaus. Just by the way he had said those words, he could tell that Klaus knew this from experience. He shifted closer to put a comforting hand on his lower back. They stayed there for a moment, each silently there for the other, before Klaus took a deep breath and pulled away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have one more place, and then we can go home.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dave sniffed and brushed a finger over his cheek to wipe away a stray tear. “Alright.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And with that, they were back to walking. Dave stuck closer to Klaus’ side this time, still not brave enough to reach out and take his hand in public, but enough to consider it. And he was proud of himself for that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This was the longest part of their walk so far, but thankfully they were going in the direction of the Academy. They were headed right towards the park, Dave noticed, a place he and Klaus visited often when they needed to get outside. Right after he passed through the entrance, Klaus veered off to the right, to a large parking lot, and didn’t stop until he was standing outside a food truck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time, Dave was completely lost. He didn’t see anything out of place. When he turned to Klaus with a frown, Klaus smiled softly and launched into his explanation:</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This food truck is owned by those two old women you always see working here. They’re wives—they’ve been married since the day it was legal, and they were together for decades before then. They started from nothing. They lived off donations for the longest time. And now they have one of the most successful food trucks in the whole city.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dave,” Klaus continued, turning to him. “I know this stuff won’t help. I know it doesn’t make a difference or anything like that, but I just wanted to show you that queer people are accepted. Sure, it isn’t perfect yet, but people are out and happy and living their best lives. This isn’t some sick thing. We love each other, just like two cishet people love each other.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stepped forward and took Dave’s hands in his again. “You’re my one and only, Davey. And I get if you don’t want to be like that in public, I can wait. We have time. But I still love you just the same.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the time Klaus stopped talking, Dave was full-on sobbing. He pulled Klaus into a swift kiss and kept his arms around Klaus’ waist when they parted—for once ignoring the panic part of his brain descended into at the smallest sign of PDA. They were alone, they were safe, they were okay, he reassured himself as he looked into Klaus’ eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you,” he murmured. “Thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus was right: the night hadn’t completely fixed all of his fears. His heart was still pounding as he stood there, holding Klaus in a secluded area of the empty park. But he did feel a small weight get lifted off his shoulders. They had time and they loved each other—and that was all they needed.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you guys so much for reading! As always feedback is much appreciated! See you in the next chapter of This Is the First Day of My Life!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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